Mosaic
by adversary2113
Summary: Can Daley and Lex deal with being the only survivors of Flight 29 Down after one of their has gone on a deadly rampage? They can if they realize that each is a piece of the others mosaic of life.DaleyJackson Rate M for deaths, violence, adult situations
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing, if I did, the show would have lasted longer!

Author Here: Inspired in part by Joucelin Hades and the series of messages that spawned the Abduction humor story.

Rated M for violence, character deaths and adult situations.

Mosaic

Chapter One: And Then There Were Two.

"Don't die on me now baby, " she pleaded, tears streaking down her pale face as she looked down on the bloodied, brutally beaten young man, " Please, try to hold on for just a little while longer; the helicopter will be here as soon as the last of this storm blows over. Just try to hold on." Daley Marin looked down on the face of the man she loved most in this world, who as rapidly bleeding to death from at least ten different stab wounds. Thunder and lightning crashed around them as she sat there in the wreck of 29DWN, the winds howling as Lex dove in , his raincoat plastered to his skin.

" How is he Day? " he asked , fear and concern in his voice, hunkering down by the two of them, the battered walkie talkie in his hand still blaring out static.

She shook her head and mouthed the words "Not Good" to her ten year old step brother even as she lied to her boyfriend. " He's a fighter, he'll make it through. He didn't stop that psycho just to become the last victim, not after taking that nut out himself." The words were meant to sound reassuring, but they sounded more desperate than anything else. She realized in sudden horror that the strong, so seemingly indestructible young man's breathing had stopped. " Lex, we've got to give him CPR! He's not breathing!" The red haired young woman immediately ripped the remainder of the fallen teen's shirt off and began chest compressions even as Lex went to his head , to provide air. Unfortunately, they had plenty of practice at this, after the first of them had been murdered.

In a flash of motion, she pounded her fist into the firm , blood soaked chest. _Damn, it's almost impossible to do this without ripping his other wounds, but if I don't , he's dead for sure! _Daley Marin thought as she began the compressions and Lex sent the first puffs of air into the teenager's throat.

After a half minute, she checked for a pulse. Nothing. She resumed. A half minute later, she checked again. Still nothing.

" Day?" Lex said, tears on his own face as his sister gave CPR to his closest friend furiously.

" Shut and give him a breath!" Daley rasped as she shoved into the chest with all of her power, sweat dripping from the strain. Her hands were soaked with blood, there were just so many wounds She listened again. Nothing.

For twenty long minutes they kept it up, even when they both knew, from the horrors they had endured, that after so long , it was hopeless. Even if he revived now through some miracle, brain damage would be a near certainty.

As he had so often since they had crashed on the island just over a month ago, Lex Marin had to be the voice of reason. It was a role he had learned to hate. He sat back on his heels, exhausted both physically and mentally. " It's over Daley. He's gone now." His treble voice sounded as tired as he looked.

" NO! We're not giving up on him!" She shoved him away and started to give the dead teen air, only for Lex to pull her back with surprising strength.

" He's dead Daley! And nothing we can do will bring him back Day! Please, just stop, you're only making this even harder, " he said, the tears falling down his own dark skinned face now as he watched his sisters world crumble. She fell over onto the chest of her beloved and the sobs that came forth threatened to tear her step brothers young heart apart. He went over and hugged her tightly from behind as he shoulders shook.

After a few moments, Lex became aware of a noise. A mechanical noise, like…

" A helicopter! Day, the Marines are here! The storm must have died down just enough for them to be willing to launch.!" He jumped to his feet and stuck his head out of the cloth that served as a door to the starboard side of the plane fuselage. " I seen them, they're landing in the clearing near the garden, probably." He went back in and gently pulled his sister up.

They looked down on the body of the young man who had briefly been the center of their small universe on this island.

" A half hour, that's all it would have taken, another half hour. Damn Abby to Hell!" Daley said, hatred in her voice. " I hope they feed her fucking body to the damn sharks. She stopped her tirade before it could really start though. Now wasn't the time. She knelt back down and gave a last kiss to the young man she had given her all to, who had kept her and Lex alive, even at the cost of his life. Just as he had sworn he would. She spoke the only three words that really matter in any language to her fallen love before leaving him forever, " I love you." Then, she stood up and walked from the plane without another word.

Lex looked at his sister as she left the plane. Then, he knelt down, and in love did something he would have never done had the other boy still been alive. He kissed the cheek of the young man who had been almost a brother, no, second father to him in this time of exile and spoke from his heart to wherever the others soul had gone. " Thank you . Thanks for my life and for Daley's . I'll never forget you Cody Jackson. Neither of us will."

As had Daley, he left the plane, never to reenter it again.

Author here: Yeah, it's a Daley/Jackson fic as well as a Day/Lex one. The one thing I'll say won't be in this story is a Pedo Russell. That has become a cliché in this fandom. C'mon, we can do better than that.

Comments, questions, suggestions. All are welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

Author Here: Man, the next time I welcome questions, comments or suggestions, I'll remember to bring a sword, shield and tactical nuke with me. Seriously, if you have a issue with how I write or what, tell me. Just don't make it a personal attack. I freely admit I type horribly and I've apologized for it and am in the process of trying to replace my poor wore out Dell, but I only work part time and I'll do it when I can either A. afford to or B. Learn how to live without food or electricity.

Onwards and upwards.

(Oh, nearly forgot, thanks for the words of support.)

Chapter Two

How Did We Get From There To Here?

For the second time in two days, the Marines landed on the small island. This time, it wasn't a two man team in a raft like before, it was a chopper from the USS Wasp, a dark, gunmetal gray smudge out on the horizon. The helicopter, a venerable UH-1N Huey, has a crew of four aboard to carry the two survivors to the ship. And they were all armed. There would be no repeat of the first attempt to get them home, when the two corpsmen were ambushed , their own weapons turned against them and Jackson.

" We're going to get you two to the Wasp. They'll check you both out there and then we'll see about getting you two to Guam and then to home. That sound good to you?" Lieutenant Eric Flint asked them as he pulled the stick back and the chopper lifted off from the cursed island in a roar of whirling rotors. There was no reply. He glanced back into the seat and the twelve year veteran saw a sight he wouldn't have wished on anyone.

She had been brave for so long, fought so hard to shield her 10 year old brother from the worst of the disaster that had unfolded around them, but even the strongest have breaking points and Daley Marin had reached her. She had her head nestled in her stepbrother Lex's lap, wrapped in a green Marine blanket and was quietly crying her heart out as the small boy stroked her red hair gently, tears on his own face as he looked down at the island of their exile, now mercifully fading away into the distance. " It's over Day, we made it. We're going home." he kept reciting those words, almost mantra like to her as they rapidly approached the large ship.

As he did so, one thought went over and over through his head, one question, that he knew beyond any shadow of a doubt they would be asked a thousand times in the days and weeks ahead.

" How did we get from there to here?"

Even as that went through Lex's mind, it was going through Daley's as well as the helicopter slowly settled down on the forty thousand ton vessel .

The memories came to her unbidden, dark, ominous and full of pain, like razors or slivers of glass in her tired mind. But, even as dark as everything was now, there had been moments of happiness, friendship, and even love. And not from just her brother, but from two most unlikely sources: Nathan McHugh and Cody Jackson.

And it had all started on the morning of their eight day on the island. The day one of the vanished foursome had been found by Eric and Nathan, in the jungle almost a mile from their camp. She still remembered who stunned she had been when Eric McGorrill had run up to them, blurting out the shocking news.****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

" We found one of them, well, technically I did! you'd never guess who! It's the freaking pilot, Captain Chaos, uh, Captain Russell!" the skinny teen panted harshly from his run up the long hillside to them. _Man, too much sleeping, not enough moving, _went through Eric's head as he wiped seat from his high forehead, waiting their reaction with obvious anticipation. He knelt over , taking deep breaths as Daley, Taylor and Nathan looked at one another in surprise.

" Were the others with him?" Daley asked, turning and starting to run the way Eric had came from before the boy could even finish speaking, her bush hat bouncing on her mane of red hair as she went.

" Then we're not rescued?!" Taylor added, sounding disgusted and accusing all at once.

" I wonder if they found anything , where he came back from?" Nathan asked aloud, then took off after Daley, Taylor following him , her pink outfit making her easy to track going into the wilderness.

_Here I go again! _The beleaguered Eric thought, taking a last deep breath before plunging back onto the trail towards the downed pilot again. He took off running, one hand slapping at the battered and beloved little straw hat he invariable wore.

They had taken the dehydrated man back to Camp 29 Down. It hadn't been easy; Russell easily outweighed even Jackson, the largest of the teens , by a solid eighty or better pounds. It had taken them working in teams of three to carry him and Daley and Mel had both put their animosity over a necklace they had found earlier aside in order to berate Taylor for complaining about having to help.

" I don't want him to lay out there and die but I'm getting a hernia from trying to lug this guy. He ha to weigh three hundred pounds!' she had wailed.

" Fine, then you can give him a sponge bath to cool him off when we get there!" Mel had said, winking at Daley when she said it. Taylor wasn't the only one here who could manipulate people. Mel was capable of doing it, she simply didn't. Usually.

" EWWW!! Not even if he was Brad Pitt's brother!" Taylor had squeeled in outrage.

But she had shut up and actually helped, afterwards, to Daley and Mel's amused relief. And they had agreed to share the mysterious necklace between the three of them. An then, six hours after finally getting Russell to camp, he had awoken and given the news to them in a classic good news, bad news scenario.

" Well kids, " the battered, unshaven man had said, after drinking what seemed like half of the water in the camp, " the god news is , I haven't came across any dangerous animals here. The four of us saw a few monkeys and Ian swore he saw a big lizard, but we never saw a trace of it. The bad news is, that's all we found. A whole lotta nothing. And then, in the last big storm, I got separated from the three of them. I don't even know if they're alive or dead."

And that admission had seemed to break some internal all in Russell, who had cupped his head in his hands and then flung his sunburned face back, bellowing to the heavens above:

"It's all MY fault! I'm the reason we crashed here, not the damn storm. It's all my fault and now those three kids may be dead because of me!"

Daley nearly jumped out of her seat as a hand shook her.

A tall, brown haired petty officer, a twentyish woman with the name of Harrington on her uniform was looking at her , a trace of concern and pity in her stern , almost Oriental face. " Miss, we're here. You and your brother need to follow me. I'll take you to Commander Alexander, our chief medical officer. They want to check you to out, make sure you're al right." She held a hand out to lex, helping him off the helicopter as Daley unbuckled herself and rose.

_I don't know if I'll ever be "all right" again, Lex either, for that matter. Not after the last month,_ Daley though to herself s she got down. The medic stepped in front of them and led the way to the door on the side of the command "island" and down into the bowels of the ship. As she stood at the doorway, Daley looked a final time off at the island they had left and fought tears, remembering them all.

A image of a slender , cinnamon haired youth with a hot temper and quick grin came to her . _Goodbye Eric, you twisted joker, you had a lot more heart than you ever showed anyone, but you gave it all to save Jackson and Lex's. We'd have died then and there at the very start if you hadn't guessed what was really happening. _

Another image, of a honey blonde haired young woman, with an acerbic tongue and a astonishing amount of empathy that she kept hidden because _of _her own fears came to her next. _At least we made a kind of peace before you died Taylor. And I'll never forget how brave you were, standing up to that monster by yourself, knowing you didn't have a chance. But you did it anyway._

Mel and Nathan came next to her thoughts. He of the wild curly, hair, the dancer, the athlete and quiet, studious, China doll like, loving Mel, Together there in her thoughts as they had been in life It was ironic. The schism that drove her into Jackson's arms had driven Mel into Nathan's . A month ago , it would have been laughable, no it as like a tragic love story, one of inevitable doomed lovers. _I'll miss you two almost as much as I already miss Cody. You two only had a few days together, but it made you both happy, even in the chaos. You were each others best friends and became our best friends too. And our family._

Ian and Jory flickered in her thoughts, but they weren't prominent. She hated it, but she'd simply never been close to them. Jackson and Ian had at least the chance to speak and Lex had spoken more to the shy Jory than any of her classmates. _I'm sorry. I never talked to you two and now, I have the rest of my life to regret it._

Captain Russell came to her mind next. _I hated him at first, then, I thought he was incompetent , useless, but harmless. And then, when he found out what had happened to Ian and Jory, he changed. And I hope if I ever have a child, I'm wiling to give it all for them like he did. He never had a chance, even less than Taylor. She knew what was coming at her and he didn't . But he may have been the bravest person I ever knew, except for Jackson._

And at that thought, it felt like a hole was being dug in her heart. Images of the tall, blondish brown haired youth she had fallen so completely and unexpectedly in love with threatened to shatter her completely where she stood. She couldn't do it. She couldn't say goodbye to him, not yet.

She turned and closed the door.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Charmed

After three hours of being in the sickbay of the USS Wasp, Lex Marin had decided three things.

_Marines are cool people, I hate the color gray and I Definitely get seasick too easy, _the ten year old thought, making certain that the "barf bag" the third one he had been given, was close at hand as he lay on the small cot, an IV in his slender arm. _Uhhn, _he thought to himself as yet another wave of nausea shook his body, _I would never have guessed a ship this big would bob up and down like this, even in a typhoon! I'm glad they gave me a shot of Dramamine or I'd be hurling again_, he thought even as his hands involuntarily went to his sore stomach while the 40,000 ton assault ship bobbed up and down in the Class 4 fury of Typhoon Melissa.

The doctor, Commander Raoul Alexander, had taken one look at Lex and ordered the IV, telling him he was dehydrated, just for starters. And after a hour and a half of blood test, x-rays and the thousand and one other tests it seemed they sere determined to give him, he had been told of everything else that as wrong.

"Lex, you may not realize it, but you were just a few days, a week at most, from being a very sick young man, " the salt and pepper haired Alexander had informed him, sitting on a small stool by his bed, a clipboard in his hand and a disapproving look on his patrician face. He head peered over the rim of his bifocals at Lex in a no nonsense sort of way.

Lex had almost been to afraid to ask, but he had: "Why? What else is wrong with me? I'm tired, but I don't really feel all that bad." He had looked back up at the fifty year old man, his eyes wide with barely repressed fear.

A fear that had nearly broken free when the doctor had frankly given him the list of his problems.

" You have the early symptoms of scurvy, of all things for starters. Your potassium is borderline, you have a fairly bad case of jock itch, " and boy, had he flushed red at that!, " you also have the bacteria for giuardia in your system, although it's at a very low level . I think we've treated it in time to prevent a full blown case." He paused, composing his thoughts carefully before going to the next subject. Lex tensed, he knew what was coming.

Alexander took a breath, leaning forward and speaking, " But I'm mainly worried about the aftereffects of the ricin. It's done some damage to your liver and kidney, but it's mainly low level. Apparently you were given enough to make you very ill, but not enough to kill you. You may not feel like it now, but you're a very lucky young man; by all rights , you should be in a lot worse shape after a month on an island. Especially considering you had someone trying to kill you."

He had been pretty sure that the doctor had not wanted to stop the conversation there, but he had received a summons at that point. From the way he had taken off, it must have been something fairly serious.

_The way this ship is moving, someone may have gotten hurt in the storm, _he thought as he looked across the small aisle at Daley, who had two ivs to his one. From what he had heard, she had all of his problems, save the humiliating jock itch, and a few more of her own. Including a couple of bruised ribs, a mild concussion and two sprained fingers. The pain medication they had given her had mercifully put her to sleep. The first sleep she had had in nearly thirty six hours.

At the moment, Lex envied her. He couldn't have went to sleep without being sedated, not the way his stomach felt. _I haven't been this sick since Mom made candied jalapenos and I tried adding vinegar and caramel to them. And even that didn't feel this bad! _Sudden noise coming from the doorway caused him to break off from remembrances of bellyaches past and come back to reality.

He saw two corpmen run through, a bloody gurney held between them. A iv was dangling from it, but it held blood, not saline solution. Whoever was on that gurney as in a bad ay, obviously. He listened in, which was hard not to do in these close quarters.

He heard one of the corpsmen speaking to someone he couldn't see, but from the respectful tone, it was probable Alexander. " Lt. Flint said it scared him half to death. They never expected to find anyone at the ruin of the Hotel Tango, but this one was there, one the roof no less!"

The other corpsman, or more correctly, corpswoman spoke up, " Climbing up on the roof, with just one working arm at that, incredible. Oh shit, he's stopped breathing again!" Lex heard Alexander snap out orders swiftly.

" Get the crash cart on stand by! Ross, Cooper, start CPR. Lt. Riveiers, get surgery one ready. I hate it, but I'll probably have to take that arm. Move people!" came the crackling voice of a doctor who knows he has his hands full.

Lex felt as if he was going to pass out as the words sank in. _They found someone, but who? There's no way Cody's alive, none. And that goes for Ian too, I saw him die with my on eyes. But we never found Eric or Nathan's bodies. We would have needed scuba gear to do that!. And Russell, we buried him. And they said it was a he!_

A silent form entered the room. It was the short, compact helicopter pilot, Lt. Flint. He looked towards the trauma room and , seeing the frantic activity in there, walked over towards the main bay. He had a look of concern on his freckled face and there as rain still dripping from his uniform and his buzzed cut hair . Lex must have made an inadvertent noise for Flint looked startled for a second, then relaxed as he realized Lex and Daley were there with him. He walked over to Lex, an odd expression on his face.

" How are you feeling champ? They treating you ok down here?" he asked, still glancing back at the front bay . He went over to the stool and sat down, his soaking wet uniform wrinkling as he did. He had a look of disbelief on his face, shaking his head back and forth. Lex waited for a second, then let his curiosity loose.

" Lieutenant, who did you find? I can't figure out who it could be." he said, a desperate tone in his voice as the hope that one of his fallen friends had somehow cheated death seemed to energize him. His rumbling stomach was forgotten for the moment as he waited impatiently for an answer.

Which he thought would never come. Flint sat there, then, finally, a look of wonder crossed his face as he looked at Lex. When he spoke, it was quick and fast, a jumble of run on sentences.

" It was like something out of a movie kid. I had decided to make a last pass over the North side. My crew and I didn't see anything at first and then , BAM. Someone shot a flare right across the front of the chopper. It was the guy in there. He managed to climb up on the roof of the one building there that even _had _a roof, with a broken arm and probably cracked ribs. He stood there, waving his short. We landed in a field nearby and went and got him. He collapsed as soon as Mason and Thompkins, the two SBA's, sick berth attendants, got to him. Sorry son, " he had a regretful expression as he talked , "I didn't get his name. But I did get this. He wouldn't let it go, even knocked out. I had to pry it from him."

He reached into his back pocket and tossed the battered remains of a hat that belonged to who , until that moment, Lex and Daley had thought was the first victim of the whole chain of murders.

Lex grabbed the straw hat and said the name aloud softly, "Eric. That's his name. I thought he was dead. We thought Abby killed him five days ago." A thousand questions filed his young mind, but he knew they would have to wait. That they might still never be answered as the medical team fought to keep Eric McGorrill alive.

Author here: Thought I'd inject a little hope here. I didn't anticipate how dark this story as going to be, so I changed a few detail to lighten it up slightly.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**Comfortings**

**Daley Marin sat there, a look of disbelief on her face as Lex repeated the unexpected news to her.**

" **He's alive Day. Nobody knows how, but they brought him here and took him straight back to surgery. I heard that Doctor, Alexander , say they might have to take one of his arms, but at least he's alive ," the obsidian eyed boy shook his head slightly, as amazed as Daley still. But then the keen mind in the child's body shoed that it was still working just fine as he pointed something out : " You know, we never actually found his body; we took Abby's word for it Considering all the blood on her and the screams we heard from Eric, we made a logical conclusion, that she had killed him, " he said calmly, then met his sister's eyes, a hint of shame in his met by a matching one in hers, " obviously, we were wrong." He let out a sigh, turning and looking at the other end of the sickbay. " I wish they would let us know something," he murmured wistfully.**

**She reached over and paced a cool hand on Lex's forearm as she consoled him. " I'm sure they'll tell us something as soon as they can Lex, all we can do for now is pray." **_**Not that it helped a lot with any of the rest of this nightmare, but I'm willing to try talking to God if He's willing to listen.**_

**They sat there for a time, Lex by her side . After a while , she noticed he as starting to lean forward until he almost fell, then , he would snap back aake for a brief time, before doing it again. She smiled to herself as she scooted over on the cot and patted it. Lex needed no encouragement, he got on it and curled up on the edge, his back to her. She curled up around him and drifted off, at first, wondering how on earth Eric had survived. But mostly, she was reliving the chain of events that had led to now.**

********************************************************************************************************************************

**It had taken an hour befoe they had calmed the hysterical pilot down. Over and over he had raged about it being his fault. His company's fault. They had yet to get any sort of explanation out of him. He had finally calmed down slightly when Jackson had offered a flask of water to him. After drinking it in three huge draughts, he had announced to the world " I gotta shit!" **

**Distraught , exhausted and guilt ridden. Those were words that could have described Robert Russell. Couth was not currently on the list. Fortunately, when he returned from being led to the latrine by a helpful Nathan, he had been somewhat less tense.**

" **Sorry about that guys. Didn't mean to flip out on you there, " he said, wiping his seating face with the tail of his grimy, pineapple covered Hawaiian shirt, " it's just that between losin' Abby , Ian and Jory , crashing here in the first place and being lost period, I'm wound a little tight."**

" **A "little", " Eric snorted, only to he hastily shushed by Mel's elbo to his ribs. "Hey!"**

" **Let him talk Eric." Jackson said with quiet authority, his arms folded across his chest, his face in shadow from the bright sun behind him. " Why do you keep saying this is all your fault, your company's fault, Captain? Did you know something was wrong with the plane or something?" There was a hint of challenge in the tall teenager's baritone voice as he asked the questions. The unease on Russell's haggard face did not exactly inspire confidence.**

**The swarthy man clasped his large hands together behind his head, looking don at the ground. He spoke in a slow, tortured voice.**

" **The company that ones the planes is just about bankrupt. The old owner, Mr. Hennessey, he wasn't that bad. He believed in decent maintenance of the planes , at least. But when he died about six months ago, his son in la took over. And he looted the place . He sold off most of the newer planes, laid off the ground crews and basically mortgaged the rest. So that's why we had no GPS, thirty year old radios, no beacon and ere in a fifty five year old plane. But the worst part is, I knew the plane was about 80 hours overdue for engine work, but they wouldn't cancel your school's charter; they ere too damn greedy." He sat back up, propping himself with his hands as he looked at them, dark eyes cloudy with emotion.**

" **But hy do you keep saying that's it's your fault too?" lex asked , sitting don beside the man, offering a banana to him. Russell took it, a lop sided faint smile on his face. He reached over and patted lex's shoulder in thanks before continuing his story.**

" **I could have protested. I could have filed a complaint with the FAA. Hell, I could have just walked away. But I didn't. I'm in too much debt to just quit the only paying job I know how to do. And they would have probably got my license pulled and I'd never gotten to fly again." There as a odd look of strong feeling, of passion, on his face as he added, " I'd rather be in a pine box than know I couldn't ever fly again. I'd rather go deaf ,,or lose my legs." The expression on hi face showed he was telling the truth; he truly loved to fly.**

**But the bitterness came back with a vengeance. " And if I had been a man about it , e might not be here. I told 'em numbers three and four, the starboard pair, needed a overhaul. They put me off and I didn't want to lose the pay for the flight, so I kept my mouth shut. And no, here we are, stuck on an island in the middle of the South Pacific, with no way for anyone to find us. All because I'm an idiot and I work for even bigger idiots." **

" **Well, that pretty much sums that up, " Taylor sniffed, in her plane seat to the left, giving the man a sour look.**

"**Taylor!" Mel said, aghast at the compete disdain for the man's feelings, " You can be so , so heartless!" she shook her head irritably at the blonde, who showed a complete indifference to her opinion.**

**And , f course, Eric chimed in in concert, " Taylor's right. If Cap'n Chao here hadn't been a puss, we might not be here. Thanks for ruining our trip ." he said, hopping up and walking from the clearing without another word.**

**********************************************************************************************************************************

_**Love him or hate him, Eric always has made sure you knew exactly here he stood on any conceivable topic, **_**Daley thought as she lay there. Lex had turned over and curled up to her, looking amazingly young in his sleep. And she noticed something else about him as well; he was hot. Very hot. She could feel his body heat through the sheet. She reached out and put a hand t his forehead and was immediately surprised he hadn't scorched her. **

_**Man, he's burning up with fever. I'd better get up off my duff and see about getting some aspirin or something for him.**_** She pulled away from him, sliding out of the other side of the bed. She grabbed at the IV holder, starting to roll it forwards , when Dr. Alexander came walking around the corner and walked towards her.**

" **How are you feeling Ms. Marin?" he inquired with a slightly absent air. He looked tired, his posture, which had been ramrod erect earlier, had definitely softened somewhat. " And your brother, as well."**

" **I feel better sir. I'm a little worried about Lex though, he's running a fever." The man's bro wrinkled slightly. He alked past her and ent over to here her stepbrother lay, hi hair lank with sweat. He knelt don and touched his forehead, then looked up at Daley.**

" **I'll have a nurse double check his vitals. I'm fairly certain that his main problem I exhaustion though. And what he's doing now will help more than anything." he stood up, giving her a measuring look from his black eyes. He seemed to answer some question of himself before waving her down onto Lex's vacated bed. When she had sat, we began speaking to her in a low voice, obviously trying to keep Lex from awakening or overhearing.**

" **Your friend , Eric, is still not out of the woods. He's dehydrated, for starters. He has a concussion, four broken ribs, one of which perforated his left lung and I may yet have to take his left arm if we can't get him to a port in time for an arterial transplant. How he survived, much less climbed to the top of that old wreck to be seen is nothing short of a miracle." He put his hands in his white lob coat, a look of disbelief on his face.**

" **Charmed." Daley said to herself.**

" **Excuse me?" Alexander inquired politely.**

**Daley cleared her throat roughly, " That's what he always said. That he was charmed."**

**Alexander actually let loose a bark of laughter, " If he can feel that way still, after being on that island with a psychopath running loose, then I'd have to agree with him, especially if he pulls through now." he turned and began to walk away. Halfway up the aisle, he turned and told her , " I'll send a nurse in directly to check on your brother. You need to rest too. And I'll tell the duty nurse to inform you if there's any change in your friend." And then, he walked away.**

**Daley sat down by Lex. She leaned back until her back touched the bulkhead. Tears of thanks filled her face as she silently thanked God for sparing Eric. So far at least.**

_**Dear God, please let him pull through. Please.**_

_**Author Here: Sorry for the wait. Computer issues plus working with my cousin on the Crossover to en all crossover. It'll have the 29Downers, Degrassi, Twilight and High School Musical all in it. It's the parody from the Dark aide of Hell, Waves of Wangst!**_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Awakened Feeling

For once, Daley had managed to not have any dreams when she slept.

_Or at least , I didn't have any horrific enough to remember, _she thought to herself as she sat up in the small bed. She looked over beside her. Her stepbrother Lex was still deeps asleep, fortunately. The combination of Jackson dying, the rescue and then finding out that Eric was, for now, alive as well had taken a tremendous toll on them both and Lex was at the point of total physical exhaustion.

_And I don't feel too far fro that same point myself. And I'm sill just completely lost at figuring out how the Hell Eric survived . We all though Abby had killed him, but we were wrong. And if he pulls through, then what? Will he be mad at s for not looking for him? Will he blame us for not rescuing him? With Eric, you don't know how he'll react until he actually _**reacts!** _he's a troubled kind of guy, as he's be quick to say. _Despite herself, her lips quirked into a brief smile at some of the outrageous comments Eric had made in their time on the island.

Visions of his face scrunching in dismay as he managed to drop a tre onto his own flimsy shelter.

Of him going white as he heard the metallic crunch of a metal lighter he had hid to get out of work being bent.

Of him cradling a monitor lizard in his arms, a smug , barely suppressed smirk on his mobile face.

And of the look of happiness he had had when he, Mel Jackson and Captain Russell had taken off to find the missing Abby, Ian and Jory.

She was so lost in her thought she let out an inadvertent noise when Doctor Alexander cleared his throat, mere feet away. She nearly fell out of the small cot, painfully jerking the iv that the nurse had connected to her arm for a series of antibiotic several hours ago. Alexander hurried to help her.

I'm sorry about that Ms. Marin, I didn't realize just how hard you were concentrating there. Are you all right?" he asked solicitously as he helped he settled her mussed blankets and then carefully adjusted the iv pump. When he was satisfied that her thrashing had done no lasting damage, he made her heart leap with the tired smile he turned upon her.

He sat carefully on the foot of the bed, his own fatigue plainly showing as he spoke to her softly, so as to not disturb Lex. " Your friend truly is a charmed young man. He's still in very poor shape, but he's alive. And I didn't have to take his arm. At least , not yet," he said, holding up a hand to forestall the inevitable questions that burned in Daley's throat. " His left arm is in very bad shape. There is definite, permanent nerve damage to it. He'll have restrictions with it for the rest of his life, most likely, but he's alive. He had a serious concussion, two broken ribs, three severely bruised ones, a hairline puncture of his left lung and he's badly malnourished, but he's alive. Isn't that what really matters to you right now?" he asked rhetorically.

" You're right, of course," Daley replied, her shoulders slumping in relief. " I don't know if my brother or I could have taken getting Eric back only to lose him again. I still just don't see how he managed to survive. We though Abby had killed him." Daley grew silent again.

" She certainly seems to have came close. He had bruises all around his body,; someone either beat him or sent him on the fall of a lifetime. But, I have a question to ask of you." he said, looking over the top of his military issues glasses and locking his blue eyes with her matching ones. " Do you think you're up to checking in on him? He's conscious and he had been asking nonstop to talk to any of the others . I have not told him that there are only you and your brother. And the sole condition I have to place is that you cannot tell him about any of the other deaths. You would risk his entire recovery , even his death with that sort of shock at this juncture. Do you think you can do that?"

Daley was silent for a moment as the weight of the condition sank in. _He's right, this sort of news could literally kill Eric. I hate lying about this too him, but it's for his own good. Maybe, just maybe, I can squeak by without totally shredding the truth. _" I can" she said, giving her best level look back at the waiting man.

" I'll take you at your word then. But remember, you have to try to stay calm and collected; he's very much in shock, physical and emotional still. And you can only see him for three to five minutes, no matter what he says or does to try to keep you longer. Now, I'll go back to where he's at and tell him you'll be there in five minutes. That should give you time to tidy up and him to prepare himself as well. " He stood up and glanced over at a now snoring Lex with a hint of a grin. " he's certainly got a healthy set of lungs on him." he said, looking down at the snoring 10 year old, whose noise seemed to grow with each snore.

" Try sleeping in a tent with him sometime," Daley replied with a toss of her hair as she stood up and reached for the robe the nurse had left for her earlier. She struggled into it as the doctor unplugged her iv pump and rolled it around the bed for her. She thanked him with a smile as she went towards the nearby restroom to try to fix her hair and he went back to the emergency unit.

Five minutes later, Daley Marin was looking down onto the narrow, foxlike, bruised faced of Eric McGorrill, whom she , as well as the others had given up for dead almost a week ago.

Next: Eric and Daley talk and we discover what led the chan of events that cost so many lives.


End file.
